From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,1042f393323e22da X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-Thread: 1014db,1042f393323e22da X-Google-Attributes: gid1014db,public X-Google-Thread: 109fba,1042f393323e22da X-Google-Attributes: gid109fba,public From: kaz@vision.crest.nt.com (Kaz Kylheku) Subject: Re: Software Engineering and Dreamers Date: 1997/05/26 Message-ID: <5mb3ra$1qj@bcrkh13.bnr.ca>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 243930870 References: <5m57nu$7si@bcrkh13.bnr.ca> <5m859v$2qr@mtinsc04.worldnet.att.net> Organization: Prism Systems Inc. Newsgroups: comp.lang.c++,comp.lang.c,comp.lang.ada Date: 1997-05-26T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: In article <5m859v$2qr@mtinsc04.worldnet.att.net>, Craig Franck wrote: >I think you have a real bias against software; you could have just as >easily have said "software runs technology". There may be a symbiotic I don't think I have a bias against software! You might only perceive that if you think that hardware is somehow superior, in that the job of a hardware designer carries more prestige. >You can define technology to mean just hardware, but software may just >be plastic hardware. A lot of network and data communications algorithms >and protocols get wired up as hardware for speed, in which case there is >no software to discriminate against at the lower levels. Digital logic still isn't technology. It's really a form of software. You can change the underlying technology without changing the logic, and obtain the same behavior, modulo a difference in performance. A data register made of flip flops or an address decoder made from combinational logic can be done up in TTL, CMOS, ECL, vacuum tubes or using water pipes and valves. The essential, abstract behavior is totally separate from the implementation technology. Unless you work in marketing, you wouldn't call an OR gate ``disjunctive technology''. You see what I'm getting at? Sort of? :)